


The Language of Stars

by PinkAfroPuffs



Series: Fate/Slutty Meme Magus [11]
Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: (i was sad last night but im ok now by tobi lou plays in the distance), Babylonia Spoilers, Everyone has a love language, F/M, Fluff, History, Horny History Teacher Merlin (tm), Merlin doesn't THINK he has a love language but he just found it so SUCK IT, We mention Gawain but only his terrible mashed potatoes, greek goddesses, he can't do anything without being horny dont judge me, sex mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkAfroPuffs/pseuds/PinkAfroPuffs
Summary: Do the stars sing?Yes.In what language?They sing in every language. Even the ones we don't know.-David LeeIn which everyone has a love language, even an incubus who doesn't understand it.
Relationships: Fujimaru Ritsuka/Merlin | Caster
Series: Fate/Slutty Meme Magus [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445371
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	The Language of Stars

“What are you interested in today, Merlin?”

It wasn’t a sarcastic question, though he would still have answered if it was. After all, the Magus of Flowers never missed out on a chance to hear himself talk about things he was knowledgeable about. His young Master, Ifumi, wasted no time getting comfortable by throwing herself atop his person so that he couldn’t move from his spot in the grass, wiggling until her arms were under his own to make him her personal pillow. “Hm. Well, today, I was researching Greek goddesses,” he answered idly. “You know, there are far more than most people like to talk about.”

“Mm. You aren’t going to bring up the one we met, are you?”

“Oh, no,” he laughed nervously. “You should never invoke a goddess you’ve spoken to before! I was more focused on some of the minor ones. The Greeks had a god for everything, including the twelve hours in a day. Many are forgotten by modern writers, but that doesn’t mean they never existed! For example,” he mused, suddenly feeling his tongue loosen, “few have heard the name Urania- commonly called Ourania- before. You might have heard of ‘Uranus’ the planet, or ‘Uranium’ the element-”

“Like in Fallout,” Ifumi sleepily agreed.

He chuckled. “-but not the goddess. Most of the Muses are simply recorded as that, and their names are considered insignificant. Simply put, what they do is more important than the name they use, or the name that their worshippers use for them. There were entire schools of the arts dedicated to each Muse, even in more modern times, like the Renaissance era.” He glanced down at her, a bit surprised when her brown eyes peered up at him, alert. 

“What was she the goddess of?” Her hands folded on his chest before she rested her chin on them, tilting her head so that the curls in her puff brushed against his sleeve. “I can’t think of anything. I’m good at linguistics, usually, but I don’t remember what ‘Ura’ is supposed to preface.”  
The little tingle in his chest was incomprehensible but hard to ignore. “Well, ‘Ur’ means ‘beginning’. It’s an old word for ‘original’. You remember Uruk, right?”

A little gasp escaped her, her folded hands flying to cover her mouth. “Oh! I should’ve known. I feel silly now.”

“Well, you learn something new every day.” He smiled, his fingers finding their way into her hair. Such an interesting texture. He’d never get used to it; soft but coarse and thick, like sheep’s wool. “Anyway, she was the goddess of astronomy, and could tell the future by the arrangement of the stars. It’s said that a lot of Christian poets in the Renaissance considered her their Muse. I guess they considered it in line with their faith, like a facet of heaven, and sometimes even coupled her imagery with the Holy Spirit.”

“Weren’t they more strict about that kind of thing?” She snuggled up against him, and he vaguely remembered how far she’d been willing to go to get a kiss from him. He imagined he should feel more smug about it, but he mostly felt confused. 

(What an entirely new thing to be confused about!)

“Only in some cases. If you were to say things that directly contradicted church teachings like ...hmmmm. A certain someone who said the earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around?”

“Copernicus?”

“Yes!” This was fun, actually. Though his idea of fun was usually something off-base from this- whatever “this” was- it was definitely ‘fun’. “If you were someone like Copernicus who said that the earth wasn’t the center of the universe- the idea that God and humanity being the center of the universe as one of the church’s primary teachings- you’d be burned alive! Excommunicated! But, uhm, if you said that a Muse, or even the ‘Holy Spirit’ led you to writing the kind of poetry you published, well!” He chuckled to himself. “You could get away with anything!”

“Scary, but predictable.”

“Isn’t it?” He sighed wistfully. “The other goddess I was looking into was Erato, one of Urania’s younger sisters, another Muse. I found some interesting poetry about her!”

She shifted a little below him. “Oh really? I feel like I know something about Erato.”

“You do?” He asked, though he knew what she might say. After all, though humans might be predictable, so could he. 

“Mmm ...well, knowing you,” she mumbled, “Erato...sounds a lot like Eros, right? So...something about eroticism?” 

“Hmm. Maybe,” he agreed. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Merlin!”

Another chuckle escaped him. “Well, fine! You’re right! She was the Muse of Erotic poetry, but also of a more general concept of love and marriage in creative writing. I actually found a few of them.” He hummed. “Incredibly spicy and extremely sexy! In fact, there was one that-”

“I don’t want to hear them.”

“Aww. You’re no fun.” He pouted. ”Well, anyway, it’s said she died a horrible death, but most do, so that isn’t all that interesting.”

She rolled onto her elbows. “I’m surprised you’re skimping on details.”

A grin pulled at his lips. Egging him on only made him more inclined to share, and he had centuries of things to share. “Oh, I’m just leaving room for suspense! You can’t just spoil the story at the best parts. So, much like Aphrodite, she was said to be so beautiful that she inspired thoughts of love and often lust.”

“Without cupid arrows?”

“Oh, yes,” he hummed, hands folding over her back. “It’s said that she was the most beautiful of the Muses as well. A rather good thing that her name didn’t come up in the Golden Apple controversy, which I’m sure you know was rumored to be the reason for the fall of Troy.”

A little sigh escaped her, thoughtful as she peeked up at him. “You aren’t going to tell me about the Golden Apple Controversy?”

“Mm? You don’t know it?” 

“I do,” she admitted, “but I wanted to hear you tell it.”

How curious. True, there were some stories that were worth hearing over and over again, but was there anything special about him telling a story she already knew? “Well, if my lady wishes it,” he shrugged, “I guess I’ll have to oblige!”

* * *

“Could you tell the future with stars?”

The question is an interesting one, to be sure; though he could see the present very clearly, the future is a bit trickier to divine and often Merlin simply said that his clairvoyance was limited to the present in order to be accurate about his abilities- though mostly, he didn’t want to work too hard to look into futures with fuzzy outcomes. “Mm...I may have tried once, but it’s a little less accurate than I’d like…” He rubbed his chin. 

“‘Maybe have tried once’?” She sat up a little squinting at him. “Are you that old? Did you forget?”

He barked a laugh. Again, it was interesting how good she was at earning laughs from him. “No! Well…! Maybe! You’ll have to excuse me- I’ve tried a lot of things, you know. It’s been more than a thousand years since anyone has asked.” 

Ah. Now that he said it, it really had been, hadn’t it? Even in Babylonia, there’d been more interest in the more physical pleasures- touch, taste, smell- in between the dangerous onset of the Three Goddess Alliance and Tiamat’s resurrection. He’d fallen into old habits rather quickly back then; King Gilgamesh hadn’t bothered much with his vices, and he’d found himself drowning in great beer, beautiful women, and the sights and sounds of the city. But he'd forgotten the other things about the human world that he missed; the faeries never were interested in things like human sciences or the arrangements of stars. They followed their instincts and looked at him funny when he wanted to try and explore new human advancements that he’d never actually get to discuss. So, well. He’d decidedly found himself simply reading human lives as “stories”- a habit that was hard to break, even with a human in arm’s reach, her soft body pressed against him like a warm blanket-

“All I’m hearing is you admitting you’re an old man,” she teased. “Well, if it was that long ago, I’m surprised you aren’t trying now! If I could tell the future by using stars, I might have tried already.”

“How do you know you can’t?” The sun _was_ setting. If Septem was good for anything, it was the abundance of clear skies and clean air. Stars would be out soon. “Have you ever tried?”

Of course it sounded _romantic_ . That was what she wanted, wasn’t it? Romance. He knew how to oblige, even if it was shallow and not quite _right_. Love wasn’t something he could truly experience, after all. Or understand. 

“...have I ever-” She paused. “Oh...that’s a good question. I haven’t…”

“See?” He chirped. “You can’t get mad at _me_ when _you’ve_ never done it.”

“I wasn’t mad,” she insisted. “But-” A complicated expression twisted at her features; he watched as her mouth twitched to one side and then the other, her teeth gently biting into the soft flesh of her lower lip before she sucks on it, her eyes darting away from him. Suddenly he wanted another taste of that mouth, though he doubted she was thinking about kissing at all. A shame, really. “I’m basically not...even a mage. Why would I think about it! Besides, I guess...if I was going to try to read the stars, I’d have to figure out, like...I don’t know!” She threw her hands up. “I wouldn’t know where to start. Is there some kind of spell?”

“Maybe, maybe.” He hummed. “Though I’d guess you’d pray to someone like Urania to guide you before beginning. That _is_ the old way, I think. But we aren’t in the Age of Gods anymore. After that...mm, well. I suppose you’d wing it!”

Ifumi snorted a little, shifting her weight so that she was sitting up, sliding her body just off of him to sit beside him. Boo. “Must be nice to have so much magical power you can just wing things.”

“Are you jealous?” For some reason he couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, you shouldn’t feel too bad about it. Not many people can do what I do. But…” In a softer voice, he added, “I doubt many people can do what you have either, right?”

She paused again, her eyes widening a little in realization. “...that’s not- Merlin, I mean...I haven’t...done anything by myself. I’ve done everything with Servants, you know? Or...I don’t know.” She rubbed her arms, gooseflesh dancing up the dusky brown of her skin. “Insane luck.”

Relating to other people- understanding humans, especially- had never been his forte. What was the point of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes when they wouldn’t do the same for you? But her face was interesting. Her posture, too. An effort to make herself smaller, maybe. A habit? Her eyes wouldn’t meet his, either, so she must be ashamed of something? Body language was a lot easier than actual feelings…emotions tended to taste similar to one another, even when they were a different thing and that was a different beast to consider... But she probably needed comforting, right? Or a pep talk. He could do that. 

“Insane luck,” he agreed, thinking about his phrasing. “Maybe the stars will acknowledge you for that. They’ve certainly done it for less. And!” He sat up quickly, lifting his index finger, “If your problem is Servants, _I’m_ here, your very best, Grand Caster! What a lucky day for you~!” After saying so, he stopped to think about it a little, rubbing his chin a bit. “...hm. That _is_ rather lucky. You know, I’m starting to believe that ‘insane luck’ thing, though I meant it as only a joke.”

It _did_ earn a little laugh from her, though she didn’t look back at him when she did. The veil of the night sky had grown dark, and stars danced across it in their vision; in a quiet voice, she said, “Thanks.”

He tilted his head a bit, eyes following the line of her posture as she sat back on the heels of her hands in the grass. “Mm? What for?”

“For trying.” She said, and then turned her head towards him and smiled. 

His lips parted. Was there something that needed to be said? Was the silence enough? Or-

“I don’t understand a lot of things,” she continued, “but you’re right. It’s good to try. So I’m gonna wing it and give this a try.” After taking a deep breath, she rolled forward onto her knees and pressed both of her hands to her temples. “Okay. Okay, I want you to think of a number between one and ten, and I’m gonna guess it.”

“One and ten…” He mused. “So the number would be five?”

“You aren’t supposed to tell me!” She hushed him. “Think of another one. I’m going to ask the stars what you’re going to pick, and then I’ll answer.”

Merlin shifted onto his side, propping his chin on one hand as he watched her, her eyes squeezing shut as she concentrated so hard she might burst a vein in her neck. “Is that the game we’re playing?”

“Yep,” she wiggled her shoulders. “Mm...okay. The stars say your number is four.”

A little smile tugged at his lips. “Mmm...nope!”

“Aw!” Another wiggle. “Okay...is your number...three?”

He cleared his throat, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. “Nope~”

She snapped her fingers. “Damn it. Alright, stars. I want you to tell me what number Merlin’s going to think of in a minute and a half!”

He hummed. “A specific time frame.”

“Yes.” Then she rubbed her temples again. “Okay. My final answer is…” Her full lips pressed together and then into a thin line. “Fourteen.”

He paused. 

When he didn’t answer for ten or so seconds, she said, “Merlin? Was that the answer?”

What would be better? To tell her no, or that she’d guessed the right number? Out of all the things he _could_ have said, Merlin decided on, “Do you think it was?”

Ifumi’s hands fell to her sides as she stared at him, looking for something that he doubted was there. When her arms crossed across her chest, she huffed, “No.”

“And why is that?” He rolled onto his back, looking at her flipped profile from below, her slightly annoyed expression making him smile. “I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why it might have been. Ah, but there are just as many as to why it would be wrong, right? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”

She had to be thinking it. Her arms were still crossed, eyebrows furrowed so that they pulled together in the middle, a little pout puffing at her lip. “I’m...mostly thinking that the stars didn’t tell me anything,” she admitted.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Ifumi flopped onto her back, mimicking his own posture before she spread her arms out and sighed. “I mostly just picked because I know you cheat.”

A soft bubble of laughter hiccupped up his throat and into the air; in the softest of voices, he said, “There are an infinite amount of numbers I could have chosen to cheat. Why would you think it was fourteen?”

She didn’t say anything for a little while. Then, “I don’t know. It just felt right.”

“‘Just felt right’, hm?” He mused. He wanted to ask how she could tell so easily, what felt ‘right’ and what didn’t. But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Instead he asked, “What if I told you that was the right answer?”

She gasped. “What?”

He closed his eyes, listening to her little laughs of delight and chastising himself for even thinking he should have kept it a secret. “So, my little star watcher,” he hummed, “it seems you can hear the voices of the heavens. Tell me,” he whispered, “what do they sound like?”

At first, she didn't speak. She made a rather squeaky, thoughtful sound with the back of her throat before she shifted her weight so that they were looking at each other. “Hope.”

What a romantic response. “Hope,” he agreed wistfully. “Who knew those little balls of gas could be so wonderful?”

“We did!” She exclaimed, and then she rolled to her feet. “Okay. I think it’s time to go home now.”

“Mm?” He lifted his head. “But aren’t we having a nice date?”

“We are,” he noted that she didn’t correct him about the date bit, “but I’m hungry now, so it’s time to return.” She held out her hand to help him up- though he didn’t need any- and then led him to the edge of the field, where the leyline was set up.

“Hmmm. I wonder what sort of meal is waiting for us.” Her hand was still clasped over his. It felt a little nice, in its own way. “Maybe Gawain got into the kitchen-”

“Don’t speak his name! You’ll only bring us a himbo and a ton of unsalted mashed potatoes!”

**Author's Note:**

> i really just wanted to write about Merlin infodumping about something because he's just Like That (genuinely, have you guys started Babylonia yet? It's AAAALLLLL there, he just wants to flex his knowledge and teach all the damn time) and I guess it became more of a comfort piece. I think that's fine. 
> 
> Good luck on all your rolls! And happy thanksgiving, for those of you who celebrate it!


End file.
